Monthly Archives: June 2020
Five Things: 6/30/20
Posted on June 30, 2020 24 Comments
The last one of the month! Let’s get to it. So will there be any more “Five Things” after today? I think so! It’s a good, quick format for me, in that it covers a lot of territory regarding things I’m thinking about and/or want to share, and makes for lively comment threads that (at […]
Check In, 6/30/20
Posted on June 30, 2020 47 Comments
First, in my brain I had today, Tuesday, pegged as the first day of July when I took my break. I was genuinely taken by surprise yesterday when I looked at a calendar and it was the 29th instead of the 30th. Math is hard, y’all. Anyway, today was the day I put in my […]
The Big Idea: Dorothy A. Winsor
Posted on June 29, 2020 8 Comments
If you think creating a new world for your fiction means you’ve left behind the troubles of this one, you may be right — but now you have to think about the troubles of the new world, and what they mean for your characters. Dorothy A. Winsor have some thoughts about new worlds and their […]
The Big Idea: Max Booth III
Posted on June 26, 2020 1 Comment
Unusually, today’s Big Idea starts with an author’s note before the main body of the Big Idea piece. As you read, however, I think you’ll see why author Max Booth III thought it important to put it in, and why some aspects of his new novel Touch the Night are almost eerily in sync with […]
Taking the Rest of June Off
Posted on June 26, 2020 1 Comment
I woke up at 3am with a stomachache, and before that Krissy, who has been watching me stress out the last couple of days, has suggested that now might be a fine time not to look at the rest of the world for a bit. I think she’s probably right, so I’m going to step […]
No Five Things Today
Posted on June 25, 2020 3 Comments
Read today’s earlier piece from me instead, thanks. (And also today’s Big Idea, because, hey, a Big Idea.)
When Friends Fuck Up, and So Do I
Posted on June 25, 2020 101 Comments
So, I’ve spent a day giving myself a small ulcer trying to write this thing well, and it hasn’t been working. So fuck it, I’ll just go for blunt and see where that gets me: I have some friends who have fucked up in how they’ve been treating women. Specifically Myke Cole and Max Temkin […]
The Big Idea: Paris Wynters
Posted on June 25, 2020 4 Comments
For Issued, author Paris Wynters looked at marriage and the military, and a speculative way at combining the two of them to create her story. PARIS WYNTERS: Writing has always been a way for me to express myself creatively. Ask me to draw, you’ll get stick figures. Color, not so great at that either even […]
Five Things: June 24, 2020
Posted on June 24, 2020 62 Comments
Hello! Let’s get to today’s five, shall we? 2nd update: working from the front porch today. It's nice. pic.twitter.com/bqpjIFjHvJ — John Scalzi (@scalzi) June 24, 2020 Chair trouble: This morning I sat down in my office chair and kept going down; the pneumatic tube that regulates the height appears to have given out. Unfortunately my […]
The Big Idea: Katherine Addison
Posted on June 24, 2020 16 Comments
When Katherine Addison gets hold of the Victorian Era in her new novel The Angel of the Crows, she does things to it that no one expected — possibly most of all herself. Here she is to tell you how and why she’s done what she has, and why she had so much fun with […]
Five Things: June 23, 2020
Posted on June 23, 2020 26 Comments
Busy day! Let’s get to today’s five. Meet my newkulele: Get it? Huh? Huh? Huh? It’s a Fender Fullerton Jazzmaster ukulele in Tidepool Blue; you can’t tell very well in the photo but it’s sparkly. I have several ukes in the house so I didn’t really need a new one, but — look! It’s like […]
Five Things: June 22, 2020
Posted on June 22, 2020 32 Comments
Hope your weekend was lovely. Let’s get to the five things today! Trump’s performance anxiety: Since I am, to put it politely, no great fan of our current president, you may accurately surmise that I’m having a nice little schadenfreude moment about the underwhelming number of people at his Tulsa event, and the angst and […]
The Hugo Window
Posted on June 22, 2020 23 Comments
One of the weird bits about my life is that from time to time people speculate about whether I, John Scalzi, will ever win another Hugo Award. Mostly the conclusion is that I won’t, although whether that’s about me in particular, or about general forces in publishing and/or society, is up for some discussion. Today, […]
Happy Smudgeversary!
Posted on June 21, 2020 27 Comments
Two years ago today we found this adorable little jerk in the field across from our house, demanding to be paid attention to, and also, fed. We took him in and fed him and made him part of the family. It’s not been boring since. People ask me if he’s a good cat. I say […]
Five Things: June 19, 2020
Posted on June 19, 2020 54 Comments
It’s Juneteenth, and for probably the first time, almost everyone seems to know that. Here’s five things I’m thinking about today: Trump sure seems to want a riot: His “warning” to potential protestors of his Tulsa rally is very much of the “please actually do this, I need to shore up my support with the […]
An Addition to the Site Disclaimer
Posted on June 18, 2020 37 Comments
For roughly all of its existence, this site has had a Site Disclaimer, Comment and Privacy Policy page, and from time to time I will make updates or emendations to its text. Today I made a fairly significant one and I’d like to talk about it a bit. Here’s the update: This site features content […]
Five Things: June 18, 2020
Posted on June 18, 2020 33 Comments
I’m back from the dentist! What five things am I thinking about now? Here they are! Trump stuffed on DACA: Aaaaah, there’s that contentious 5-4 ruling I thought we might get earlier in the week. And because it was written by Roberts, it’s one of those “it’s not that your intention was bad, though it […]
And Onward to the Next 25
Posted on June 18, 2020 7 Comments
A quick thank you to everyone for all your kind thoughts and wishes regarding our 25th anniversary. We had a good day. And now we’re off to the next 25! (Well, I’m more immediately off to the dentist, to get a crown. But you know what I mean.) Also, here one more photo from yesterday. […]
Five Things: June 17, 2020
Posted on June 17, 2020 54 Comments
It’s my wedding anniversary today, so I’m zooming through this one. I’m sure you’ll understand. Here’s today’s five! Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben head toward retirement: Because 2020 is the year when companies finally realized brands explicitly referencing slavery times and/or peddling racially submissive stereotypes are just not cool. Which, I mean, yes? Good? It […]
25 Years
Posted on June 17, 2020 57 Comments
I don’t want to say that it doesn’t feel that long ago, because, well, it does feel like a while ago now — in the course of twenty five years for ourselves, our friends and families, children were born and grew, loved ones passed and were mourned, careers were made and sometimes changed. Old friends […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying